Recommendations based on The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 1: The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxfordby Philip K. Dick

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  1. The Man in the High Castle

    by Philip K. Dick
    Set in an alternate 1962, a man must confront a dark and oppressive new world order.

    It's America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some twenty ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Martian Chronicles

    by Ray Bradbury
    Human colonists struggle for survival on Mars, facing the challenges of a new world.

    The strange and wonderful tale of man’s experiences on Mars, filled with intense images and astonishing visions. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. The Martian Chronicles tells the story of ... (Goodreads)

  3. Time Out of Joint

    by Philip K. Dick
    A man discovers reality is not as it seems, and he must find a way to uncover the truth.

    Ragle Gumm lives in the year 1959 in a quiet American suburb. His unusual profession consists of repeatedly winning the cash prize in a local newspaper contest called "Where Will The Little Green Man ... (Wikipedia)

  4. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

    by Philip K. Dick
    A sci-fi exploration of the implications of reality-altering technology and the power of corporate greed.

    The story begins in a future world where global temperatures have risen so high that in most of the world it is unsafe to be outside without special cooling gear during daylight hours. In a desperate ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Childhood's End

    by Arthur C. Clarke
    Human race is transformed by an alien presence, leading to the dawn of a new age.

    The novel is divided into three parts, following a third-person omniscient narrative with no main character. , In some editions, the short first chapter is a separate prologue rather than the ... (Wikipedia)

  6. The Futurological Congress: From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy

    by Stanisław Lem
    A satirical sci-fi journey of a man struggling to make sense of a world of surrealism and absurdity.

    Ijon Tichy is sent to the Eighth World Futurological Congress in Costa Rica , by professor Tarantoga . The conference is set to focus on the world's overpopulation crisis and ways of dealing with it. ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Children of Dune

    by Frank Herbert
    Epic saga of a royal family's struggle for power and the fate of their desert planet.

    Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid ... (Wikipedia)

  8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    by Mark Twain
    Adventures of two boys on a journey down the Mississippi River, testing the limits of their freedom.

    Tom Sawyer, an orphan, lives with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri sometime in the 1840s . A fun-loving boy, Tom skips school to go swimming ... (Wikipedia)

  9. The Forever War

    by Joe Haldeman
    A soldier's story of the horror of war and its consequences in the far future.

    The monumental Hugo and Nebula award winning SF classic— Featuring a new introduction by John Scalzi,The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand—despite the fact that the fierce ... (Barnes & Noble)

  10. A Canticle for Leibowitz

    by Walter M. Miller Jr.
    A post-apocalyptic tale of a world struggling to rebuild after a devastating nuclear war.

    After 20th century civilization was destroyed by a global nuclear war , known as the "Flame Deluge", there was a violent backlash against the culture of advanced knowledge and technology that had led ... (Wikipedia)

  11. The Club Dumas

    by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
    Thriller uncovering hidden secrets and lost knowledge while searching for an elusive book.

    Lucas Corso is a middle-aged book dealer with a reputation of doing anything—regardless of legality—for his privileged clientele. While in Madrid attempting to authenticate a previously unknown ... (Wikipedia)

  12. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  13. Eon

    by Greg Bear
    A mysterious asteroid appears near Earth, and a team is sent to investigate. They discover a complex alien structure and a dangerous power struggle.

    The 21st century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the 300 kilometer-long stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth's orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid's ... (Goodreads)

  14. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

    by Franz Kafka
    A collection of surreal stories exploring the depths of the human condition.

    Virtually unknown during his lifetime, Franz Kafka is now one of the world’s most widely read and discussed authors. His nightmarish novels and short stories have come to symbolize modern man’s ... (Goodreads)

  15. I Am Legend

    by Richard Matheson
    A man is the last survivor of a zombie-creating virus, struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

    Robert Neville appears to be the sole survivor of a pandemic that has killed most of the human population and turned the remainder into " vampires " that largely conform to their stereotypes in ... (Wikipedia)

  16. Halting State

    by Charles Stross
    A police officer investigates a daring heist in a virtual world, uncovering a criminal conspiracy.

    The plot opens with a faux email addressed to Nigel MacDonald, listing a job offer. It is later learned that this email is for a work-at-home programmer position at Hayek Associates PLC. It is then ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Player of Games

    by Iain M. Banks
    A game-player embarks on a journey to win a tournament in a distant world, uncovering secrets along the way.

    The Culture - a humanoid/machine symbiotic society - has thrown up many great Game Players. One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh, Player of Games, master of every board, computer and strategy. ... (Goodreads)

  18. Brave New World / Brave New World Revisited

    by Aldous Huxley
    A futuristic dystopia of a world devoid of freedom and morality.

    The novel opens in the World State city of London in AF (After Ford) 632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian calendar ), where citizens are engineered through artificial wombs and childhood indoctrination ... (Wikipedia)

  19. Life, the Universe and Everything

    by Douglas Adams
    An intergalactic quest to find the answer to the ultimate question of life.

    After being stranded on pre-historic Earth after the events in, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, , Arthur Dent is met by his old friend Ford Prefect , who drags him into a space-time eddy , ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Animal Farm / 1984

    by George Orwell
    Two classic dystopian novels that explore the dangers of totalitarianism and the corrupting influence of power.

    The poorly-run Manor Farm near Willingdon , England , is ripened for rebellion from its animal populace by neglect at the hands of the irresponsible and alcoholic farmer, Mr. Jones . One night, the ... (Wikipedia)

  21. The Apocalypse Codex

    by Charles Stross
    A secret agent's mission to protect humanity from a powerful cult and its apocalyptic agenda.

    For outstanding heroism in the field (despite himself), computational demonologist Bob Howard is on the fast track for promotion to management within the Laundry, the supersecret British government ... (Goodreads)

  22. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

    by Frank Miller
    An aging Batman returns to Gotham City to combat a new breed of criminal.

    The Dark Knight Returns is set in a dystopian version of Gotham City in 1986. Bruce Wayne, aged 55, has given up the mantle of Batman after the death of Jason Todd 10 years prior, and now lives as a ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Fall of Hyperion

    by Dan Simmons
    Epic space opera, exploring the consequences of a universe-shattering event.

    The Hegemony is an interstellar governmental entity formed by many planets, most of which are connected by instantaneous farcaster portals. Some worlds, like Hyperion, have no farcaster portals and ... (Wikipedia)

  24. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

    by Arthur Conan Doyle
    Collection of mysteries solved by the brilliant detective, Sherlock Holmes.

    A study in scarlet – The sign of four -- Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : A scandal in Bohemia ; The red-headed league ; A case of identity ; The Boscombe Valley mystery ; The five orange pips ; The ... (Goodreads)

  25. The Name of the Rose

    by Umberto Eco
    A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.

    In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Babel-17

    by Samuel R. Delany
    A linguist embarks on a mission to decode a mysterious language, uncovering secrets of an interstellar war.

    During an interstellar war one side develops a language, Babel-17 , that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought. The change is ... (Wikipedia)

  27. Solaris

    by Stanisław Lem
    A psychological exploration of a distant planet, uncovering the truth behind its strange and mysterious phenomena.

    Solaris chronicles the ultimate futility of attempted communications with the extraterrestrial life inhabiting a distant alien planet named Solaris. The planet is almost completely covered with an ... (Wikipedia)

  28. The Complete Stories and Poems

    by Edgar Allan Poe
    A collection of dark and mysterious stories and poems, exploring the depths of the human condition.

    This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary ... (Barnes & Noble)

  29. Dune Messiah

    by Frank Herbert
    Epic tale of a galactic ruler's struggle to protect his empire from destruction.

    Twelve years after the events described in, Dune, (1965), Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides rules as Emperor. By accepting the role of messiah to the Fremen , Paul had unleashed a jihad which conquered most ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The War of the Worlds

    by H.G. Wells
    A Martian invasion of Earth, exploring the limits of human resilience.

    The narrative opens by stating that as humans on Earth busied themselves with their own endeavours during the mid-1890s, aliens on Mars began plotting an invasion of Earth because their own resources ... (Wikipedia)